Long forgotten nightmares or not?
by AlecTheKing
Summary: End of season 4B. No season 5. DQ/WB, slight AU. No darkness. People in Storybrooke live their lives after their adventure in Oscar's book Heroes and Villains. But then, in a few moments, their lives are once again rolled up... Great PTSD. All warnings inside.


Yess, my first story. I want to warn you, this is not all nice. I will write warnings at the start of each chapter. Enjoy!

When Maleficent transformed herself back from her dragon form and walked into the cottage, she immediately realized that something was off. It was just 8 p.m. and neither Lilith or Zilah were anywhere to be seen. It wasn't that long since they returned from Isaac's book 'Heroes and Villains'. It was just a few hours and everyone was dealing with it as well as possible, which, in this cottage, meant alone.

After searching the rest of downstairs blonde went up the stairs to her daughter's room. When Lilith agreed to move in with her, Maleficent was in heaven. Of course, there were boundaries, such as taking it slowly, because Lily wasn't used to such kind of attention, among the other things. Mal was just grateful for every single moment in her daughter's life. She lightly knocked on the door and when she didn't get any answer so Maleficent let herself in the room.

There was a bunk bed, table, chair and a small closet. Lily designed the room all by herself, so she would feel as comfortable as possible. On the bed, there was Zilah curled up next to an elder brunette, both peacefully sleeping. The old sorceress smiled. When those two first arrived in the town, she knew, that nothing could separate them in a matter of seconds.

Flashback

_When Lily got out of the car, the first thing she did was look back. Nobody in Storybrooke knew about Zilah, so it was a pretty big surprise when that 14 y.o. red-head climbed out of the black car. Emma and Regina were greeted by their family and Regina's smile to Maleficent was missed by everyone but the dragon, who smiled back. And then Maleficent had eyes only for her daughter. She was nervous. Very nervous. It was to be expected. What she didn't know was, that Lily was, indeed, nervous as hell, because, let's admit it, nobody wanted her in their life before. Except for Zilah, but that was something completely different. So it made sense that Lily didn't believe that this blonde woman would be any different. And who would accept her young friend?_

_ When Mal, Lily and Zilah went to Granny's after the first awkward 'hellos'. Girl caught Lily's hand even before they entered the dinner and didn't let it go even when they sat down in the booth. Mal didn't need to ask even though she noticed it. Lily was the first one to speak: "Let me make something clear. Zilah," she nodded to the teenager by her side, " is here with me. I am her protection, so if you want to have any kind of relationship, include her."_

End of flashback

Dragon smiled at the memory. There was not such a thing in the world, which would be able to separate these two. Blonde was about to close the door when she heard light "Mal?"

It was Zilah awakened by God knows what. "Yeah? Is there something I can do for you?" Readhead nodded. "Can you please teleport me down? And don't wake Lily. She needs to sleep as much as possible." Mal nodded knowingly because let's face it, mother always knows. It took just flick of wrists and Zilah sat on the couch, dressed in black shorts and a green tank top.

"Thanks."

"There is no need to thank me." Maleficent sat down next to the girl, but not too close, because they didn't know each other and keeping the distance is an agreement between all three of them. "Do you need anything else?"

"Well, I could use some reassurance from you?" Zilah eyed the floor. The girl continued after a few seconds of quietness. "I know you are her mom and all of that, but I need to know that you are 100% in whatever this will bring," Zilah changed the interest of her sight and now looked straightly into the dragon's eyes, "I don't want you to think that I am some ungrateful brat, but she went threw a lot and needs something stable now. Someone, whom she can talk to and who won't set her aside or leave." Readhed turned her sight back to the floor.

"I suppose you know about everything since you weren't surprised by recent events." 14 y.o. nodded. "Well, you'll find soon enough by yourself that I don't back off at anything, especially my family. And I don't mean just blood relatives, I mean family we make by ourselves. Just like you and Lily, she is your big sister, kinda mother and I don't know what in one. I will pick her up every time she falls and hold the pieces together until she is ready to get them back." Zilah smiled lightly, but Mal continued. "Not just for her, by your behaviour I was able to tell that good parents haven't been a thing for you too. So if you ever need something, you can count on me."

Zilah was more than kind of taken by those words, so she remained silent. It took her a few more minutes to get the courage to ask another question.

"Who is her other parent?" On maleficent's face appeared a small sad smile. "That is quite a story. Do you want to join us, Lily?" Asked brunette left behind the corner, where she was hiding and sat behind Zilah. "So you will eventually tell me?" "Of course I will tell you, you need to know your roots. Now sit comfortably, because this will take more than a few minutes." Zilah made herself comfortable in embrace of Lily, who hugged her from the back.

"Once upon a time..."


End file.
